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Except that Amazon pays well over minimum wage, offers health benefits, bonuses, and paid leave. They have draconian employee policies and enforce strict discip

Except that Amazon pays well over minimum wage, offers health benefits, bonuses, and paid leave. They have draconian employee policies and enforce strict discipline in terms of performance metrics in exchange for these benefits. I'm not saying they are perfect by any means, what I am saying is that it is not some sweatshop operation exploiting those without any other options. Amazon has been a blessing to many people around the world, and to cast them as the villain simply because the unskilled labor job isn't as comfortable and kind as some would have it is frankly wrong in my opinion.

_bxg1 7y ago
When employees are peeing in bottles for fear of getting fired over the time constraints imposed upon them, that's inhumane. No matter what kind of health insurance they get. The point remains that these constraints could easily be loosened just enough to become humane, and the company (and Jeff) would make slightly less money, but everyone would still make off fine. But they aren't.
- natpalmer1776 7y ago
  What about the conditions of migrant day laborers? I had the opportunity to grow up alongside many immigrants from many different regions, and have heard stories about the work their parents did to pay the bills. Let me just say that working at Amazon is a blessing compared to many of the alternatives. There are many jobs out there that are not pleasant. There are many working conditions we would rather not hear about - except to cry out at the social injustice - before resuming our 9-to-5 office jobs. Amazon has raised the bar for this class of work, they have set high expectations and offered higher compensation in return. This job to many is but a foothold to a better life, and to others it is simply an improvement to their previous one. Peeing in a bottle is great fodder for headlines, but they are far from the first to ever need to do that to meet their obligations. Obviously it should be remediated so they don't have to, and I definitely agree some bad PR is a a great way to go about it. However, if that is the worst of the job then all I can say is welcome to the workforce.
  - _bxg1 7y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism The thing that makes Amazon's case stand out is how systematic it is (and the scale at which that system plays out). This is a global company with deep pockets, and it very deliberately meters out exactly how much it can push people to maintain maximum profits. Even when that means people get injured or burned-out; others will take their place. The dire state of the low-wage job market, that causes people to take these jobs because it's the best they can get, is no excuse for treating people as subhuman.

_bxg1 7y ago

When employees are peeing in bottles for fear of getting fired over the time constraints imposed upon them, that's inhumane. No matter what kind of health insurance they get. The point remains that these constraints could easily be loosened just enough to become humane, and the company (and Jeff) would make slightly less money, but everyone would still make off fine. But they aren't.

natpalmer1776 7y ago
What about the conditions of migrant day laborers? I had the opportunity to grow up alongside many immigrants from many different regions, and have heard stories about the work their parents did to pay the bills. Let me just say that working at Amazon is a blessing compared to many of the alternatives. There are many jobs out there that are not pleasant. There are many working conditions we would rather not hear about - except to cry out at the social injustice - before resuming our 9-to-5 office jobs. Amazon has raised the bar for this class of work, they have set high expectations and offered higher compensation in return. This job to many is but a foothold to a better life, and to others it is simply an improvement to their previous one. Peeing in a bottle is great fodder for headlines, but they are far from the first to ever need to do that to meet their obligations. Obviously it should be remediated so they don't have to, and I definitely agree some bad PR is a a great way to go about it. However, if that is the worst of the job then all I can say is welcome to the workforce.
- _bxg1 7y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism The thing that makes Amazon's case stand out is how systematic it is (and the scale at which that system plays out). This is a global company with deep pockets, and it very deliberately meters out exactly how much it can push people to maintain maximum profits. Even when that means people get injured or burned-out; others will take their place. The dire state of the low-wage job market, that causes people to take these jobs because it's the best they can get, is no excuse for treating people as subhuman.